Adjustable wrench

ABSTRACT

An adjustable wrench having a fixed jaw formed as part of its handle and a sliding jaw opposed to the fixed jaw. The sliding jaw has an internal thread which is entirely enclosed to accommodate an adjusting screw with a knob external to the handle of the wrench for easy accessibility. The elliptical bore, which accommodates the sliding jaw and the adjusting screw, is closed off by a dust seal, and all threads, both of the adjusting screw and the internal thread of the sliding jaw, are protected from external dirt which may tend to wear or jam the threads.

United States Patent [191 Casner 1 Jan. 16,1973

' [54] ADJUSTABLE WRENCH [76] Inventor: Burton L. Casner, PO. Box 817, 1

Pcrris, Calif. 92370 [22 Filed: June 16,1971 21 App1.No.:153,729

521u.s.-C| ..s1/170 51 Int. Cl. ..B25b 13/16 [58] Field ofSearch.........81/l70,155, 157, 171, 216

[56] References Cited I UNITED STATES PATENTS 53,016 3/1866' Lowe ..81/170 986,112 3/1911 Wood ..81/l70 2,812,918 11/1957 Longino ..8l/170 Primary ExaminerRobert C. Riordan Assistant Examiner-Roscoe V. Parker, Jr. Attorney-D. Gordon Angus et al.

[57] ABSTRACT An adjustable wrench having a fixed jaw formed as part of its handle and a sliding jaw opposed to the fixed jaw. The sliding jaw has an internal thread which j is entirely enclosed to accommodate an adjusting screw with a knob' external to the handle of the.

wrench for easy accessibility. The elliptical bore, which accommodates the sliding jaw and the adjusting screw, is closed off by a dust seal, and all threads, both of the adjusting screw and the intemal' thread of the sliding jaw, are protected from external dirt which I may tend to wear or jam the threads.

9 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJAN 16 I975 3,710,658

50270 L. CAS/VER I N VEN TOR ADJUSTABLE WRENCH BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention deals with an adjustable wrench having means to protect all sliding and rotating adjusting parts from outside contamination.

There have been many adjustable end wrenches made in the past, but they have all exhibited the same gross difficulties. In prior wrenches, the entire mechanism for adjustment has beenexposed to dirt and will strike the frame or handle as the adjustment is made, and this is inconvenient and risky.

An object of this invention is to'provide an adjustable wrench with a totally enclosed adjusting mechanism. A further object is to provide adjustment means that is conveniently located to the hand and fingers of'th e mechanic. A further object of the invention is to provide for adjusting means that is external to the handle of an adjustable wrench to provide easier and more complete accessibility to the user.

Still another object of the invention is to provide seal means to exclude contaminant material from the conceal'ed adjusting mechanism of an adjustable wrench.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawing, in which: i

FIG. 1 is a side elevation, partially in cross-section, of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in cross-section taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1; r

FIG. 3 is a cross-section view taken on'line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-section view taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 1; and I FIG. 5 is a fragmentary end view taken at line 55 of FIG. 1. r

The presently preferred embodiment of this device is shown in FIG. 1. A handle member has formed at one end a fixed jaw 11. The handle 10 has a longitudinal axis 12, although portions of the handle 10 and the portion of handle 10 that contains the operating mechanisms are naturally not symmetrical, but this term is used for convenience.

Axis 12 forms an angle C with the planar face 11a of the fixed jaw 11. A transverse bore 14 forms an acute angle B with the longitudinal axis 12 of handle 10. The transverse bore 14 is of non-circular cross-section and may have, preferably,,a modified elliptical cross-section.

' A flat sealing face 17 is formed atright angles to the transverse bore 14 on the externalsurface of the handle I member 10. A seal disc 18, which may be made of a plastic material, a rubber material, or any suitable gasket type material having wear properties, but which preferably is made of nylon, is placed nextto this sealing face 17. I An adjusting screw 19 has a cylindrical head 20 which is preferably finished with a knurled surface 21 on the head 20. The head may be threaded tightly onto the screw. A recess 24 is formed for clearance of head 20 in the external surface of the handle member 10. A stop shoulder 25 is also formed adjacent the clearance recess 24 on the handle member 10. A sliding jaw member 27 has a planar face 28 which is parallel and opposed in position to the jaw 1 l.

The sliding jaw has an extension 32 which is slidably engaged with the bore 14 of the handle member 10. The extension 32 may be convenientlymade flat to fit closely and slidably engage the modified elliptical shape of the bore 14 for non-rotation. The close fit of v the sliding jaw extension 32 with the transverse bore 14 will exclude dirt and other contaminants from the operating mechanism. The seal 18 performs the same exclusion function at the external surface of handle member 10 to prevent contamination. Another function of the seal 18 is to provide anti-friction properties for rotation of the head 20 of the adjusting screw 19.

In use, rotating head 21 will turn adjusting screw 20 A and cause the sliding jaw 31 to more in and out for adjustment of size. I

Certain angles are optimum in this preferred embodiment of the invention as can be seen in FIG. 1. Angle A may preferably be l.l0, andangle C may preferably be 22. Angle B may preferably be 48. These choices of angles provide for maximum accessibility and forreversal of wrench position by slipping over to provide for altering the position of the handle in restricted quarters.

Due to the choice of angles, the sliding jaw 27 is longer than the fixed jaw 11. This provides an advantage to the mechanic because it gives him a lead in feeling for the flat surface of an object to be wrenched' before full engagement of the wrench is made. This helps in blindquarters where the wrenching surfaces cannot'be seen, and will help him in adjusting andfixed jaw 11. This slot, preferably, does not allow the jawsto close completely, the sliding jaw 28, instead, seating against shoulder 41 in its closed position, which for all practical purposes, issmaller than the smallest wrenching surface to which the tool would be applied. This structure then provides bearing surface 42 in transverse bore 14, which allows greater usable opening of the wrench, since extension 32 of sliding jaw 28 now has'a reaction surface,'to use in applying torque, beyond the planar face 1 1a of fixed jaw 1 1.

In a typical 8 inch adjustable wrench design, bearing surface 42 would have a length in order of magnitude of one-fourth inch to allow a usable wrench opening of 1 3/16 inches, which is considerably more than an ordinary 8 inch adjustable wrench, which would normally open to the order of magnitude of 1 inch.

This invention is not to be limited by the preferred embodiments and descriptions shown in the drawings and described in the description, which are given by member, said handle member having a-longitudinaI planar face 11a of the fixed axis, fixed jaw means at one extremity of said handle member, said fixed jaw means having a planar wrenching surface, said handle member having a bore transverse to said handle axis, said bore having a longitudinal axis, said bore having anti-rotation means, said anti-rotation means parallel to said longitudinal axis of said bore; a sliding jaw member, said sliding jaw member having extension arm means, said extension arm means being adapted to slidably assemble into said transverse bore of said handle member, said extension arm means having anti-rotation means, said anti-rotation means being adapted to slidably engage said antirotation means of said transverse bore, said sliding jaw member having a planar wrenching face parallel and opposed to said planar wrenching face of said fixed jaw means, said extension arm means having a central axis, said extension arm means having an internally threaded bore coincident with said longitudinal axis; and adjusting screw means, said adjusting screw means having knob head means, said handle member having external clearance slot means and shoulder stop means, said shoulder stop means being adjacent to said clearance slot means, said clearance slot means being adapted to clear said knob head means said shoulders stop means being adapted to retain said knob head means in said handle member, said adjusting screw means being adapted to engage said internal thread of said extension arm of said sliding jaw means for adjustment of said wrench, said assembly of said extension arm means in jaw are disposed at an acute angle to said axis of said handle member.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said planar wrenching faces of said fixed jaw and said sliding jaw are of different relative lengths.

6. A wrench according to claim 3 in which said acute angle is in the order of 48.

7. A wrench according to claim 4 in which said acute angle is in the order of magnitude of 22.

8. A wrench according to claim 1 including said transverse bore of non-circular cross-section and said extension arm means of non-circular,cross-section, said extension arm adapted to slidably assemble into said transverse bore for non-rotation.

9. A wrench according to claim 8 including said noncircular cross-section of said transverse bore having a modified elliptical form. I 

1. An adjustable wrench which comprises: a handle member, said handle member having a longitudinal axis, fixed jaw means at one extremity of said handle member, said fixed jaw means having a planar wrenching surface, said handle member having a bore transverse to said handle axis, said bore having a longitudinal axis, said bore having anti-rotation means, said anti-rotation means parallel to said longitudinal axis of said bore; a sliding jaw member, said sliding jaw member having extension arm means, said extension arm means being adapted to slidably assemble into said transverse bore of said handle member, said extension arm means haviNg anti-rotation means, said anti-rotation means being adapted to slidably engage said anti-rotation means of said transverse bore, said sliding jaw member having a planar wrenching face parallel and opposed to said planar wrenching face of said fixed jaw means, said extension arm means having a central axis, said extension arm means having an internally threaded bore coincident with said longitudinal axis; and adjusting screw means, said adjusting screw means having knob head means, said handle member having external clearance slot means and shoulder stop means, said shoulder stop means being adjacent to said clearance slot means, said clearance slot means being adapted to clear said knob head means said shoulders stop means being adapted to retain said knob head means in said handle member, said adjusting screw means being adapted to engage said internal thread of said extension arm of said sliding jaw means for adjustment of said wrench, said assembly of said extension arm means in said transverse bore being adapted to completely enclose said adjusting screw means.
 2. Apparatus according to claim I which includes seal means assembled between said knob head means and said handle member, adapted to exclude contaminants from said transverse bore.
 3. A wrench according to claim 1 in which said transverse bore is formed at an acute angle with said axis of said handle member.
 4. A wrench according to claim 1 in which said planar wrenching faces of said fixed jaw and said sliding jaw are disposed at an acute angle to said axis of said handle member.
 5. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said planar wrenching faces of said fixed jaw and said sliding jaw are of different relative lengths.
 6. A wrench according to claim 3 in which said acute angle is in the order of 48*.
 7. A wrench according to claim 4 in which said acute angle is in the order of magnitude of 22*.
 8. A wrench according to claim 1 including said transverse bore of non-circular cross-section and said extension arm means of non-circular cross-section, said extension arm adapted to slidably assemble into said transverse bore for non-rotation.
 9. A wrench according to claim 8 including said non-circular cross-section of said transverse bore having a modified elliptical form. 